Central pathways regulating visceral pain. This project aims to investigate the neural pathways within the spinal cord and brain processing colorectal pain perception. The project aims to identify the spinal cord neurons relaying colorectal signalling into the brain and the influence of descending modulation from the brainstem upon these pathways. The outcomes will greatly benefit fundamental understanding of the central pathways processing visceral pain.
How does timing affect mammalian brain development and evolution? This project aims to generate fundamental knowledge on the origin of diversity in mammalian brain circuits by studying development of marsupials and rodents. The expected outcome is to elucidate how differences in the timing, rate and sequence of development of gene expression, cell differentiation and circuit formation can relate to the origin of key evolutionary innovations in the mammalian brain. The significance of understandi ....How does timing affect mammalian brain development and evolution? This project aims to generate fundamental knowledge on the origin of diversity in mammalian brain circuits by studying development of marsupials and rodents. The expected outcome is to elucidate how differences in the timing, rate and sequence of development of gene expression, cell differentiation and circuit formation can relate to the origin of key evolutionary innovations in the mammalian brain. The significance of understanding the dynamics of developmental systems that shape complex brain traits includes establishing new developmental paradigms in evolutionary theory, generating new tools to investigate and manipulate brain gene expression in vivo, and the potential discovery of the causes of neurodevelopmental dysfunction.Read moreRead less
Hierarchical information processing in the primate visual cortex. This project aims to understand how visual information is transformed across hierarchical levels in the brain. Neuroscientists have long recognised that the visual cortex can be conceptualised as a hierarchical processing network. This became apparent when learning algorithms based on hierarchical networks ("deep learning") changed artificial intelligence. This project will combine high-throughput electrophysiology with analytical ....Hierarchical information processing in the primate visual cortex. This project aims to understand how visual information is transformed across hierarchical levels in the brain. Neuroscientists have long recognised that the visual cortex can be conceptualised as a hierarchical processing network. This became apparent when learning algorithms based on hierarchical networks ("deep learning") changed artificial intelligence. This project will combine high-throughput electrophysiology with analytical tools adopted from deep learning. By explaining the physiological properties of higher-level neurons in terms of hierarchical networks, the project expects to address long standing questions in neuroscience, and provide insights on biological hierarchical computation.Read moreRead less